SB 1.16.35 "Receiving the dust of the Lord means?" | Rus-Split | 11.2.92 | Gopal Krishna Goswami

Om Namah Bhagavate Vasudevaya. Om Namah Bhagavate Vasudevaya. So today we are going to do 2 verses and thus end this chapter. We are going to do Canto 1, Chapter 16, Text 35 and 36. Text 36 has been written on the board because the Sanskrit is a little shorter. And my experience is that your devotees find it easier to chant verses that are shorter than longer. Prāccham savaḥ svātām tayor evam kathayāto, priṭhvidhāmayo 'staḥ, priṭhvidhāmayo 'staḥ, parikṣināma rājasi, parikṣināma rājasi, prāpta prāccham savaḥ svātām, prāpta prāccham savaḥ svātām. Tayor evam kata yāto priti-dharma-syātadā prakṣin-nāma rājarṣī prapta-prācim-sarāśvatam. So we see that the earthly Deity in the form of a cow is about to complete Her reply to the personality of religious principles, namely the bull. We have seen in this chapter how the bull, namely the personality of religious principles, has acknowledged to the earthly deity, namely the cow, that Kali-yuga symptoms are becoming evident. And the earthly deity, namely the cow, has confirmed that circumstances have deteriorated, and the earth is complaining that she has been overburdened with demonic rulers. It has been explained elsewhere in the Bhagavatam that the earth can tolerate the weight of mountains, it can tolerate the weight of oceans, but it cannot tolerate the weight of asuras. So namely, Mother Earth is, is very unhappy that the asuras are increasing in influence. So in this verse, that is text 35, we see that Mother Earth is saying, who can tolerate the pangs of separation from the Supreme Personality of Godhead? In other words, a devotee does not like to be separated from the Lord. Just like a fish cannot be happy out of water, the living entity cannot be happy without his relationship with the Supreme Lord. Therefore, the nature of a devotee is that when he's not in association with the Supreme Lord, he feels very uncomfortable and sad. So therefore, the devotee is always desirous of being in association with the Supreme Lord. Therefore, the devotee— therefore, the devotee molds his life in such a way that he's always connected with the Supreme Personality of Godhead. And when the devotee is engaged in association with the Supreme Lord, then he doesn't experience any material pain or any material discomfort. Just like during the period that Parikṣit Mahārāja was hearing the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam from Śukadeva Gosvāmī, he did not feel any hunger or thirst And similarly, many inhabitants of Vṛndāvana were separated, were protected by Lord Kṛṣṇa from Indra's anger. When the Lord lifted the Govardhana Hill, the inhabitants of Vṛndāvana did not feel even a drop of hunger or thirst during the period that they were under the protection of Govardhana Hill. So the root cause of the living entity's unhappiness is forgetfulness of his relationship with the Lord. The root cause of all the anxieties and problems faced by a devotee is just a single point: forgetfulness of his relationship with the Lord. Mother Earth is clearly stating, 'Who can tolerate separation from the Lord?' In other words, she's saying to be separated from the Lord is very, very painful. So our lives should be so molded that we are never separated from the Lord. Therefore, Prahlāda Mahārāja has given us this process of śrīmad-nāma-kīrtanam-viṣṇu-smāraṇaṁ. By taking advantage of these three processes, śrīmad-nāma-kīrtanam-viṣṇu-smāraṇaṁ, one can always remain engaged in service to the Lord. In the Bhāgavad-gītā, Kṛṣṇa advises, sadatāṁ kīrtayānto mām. He says, one should engage in always glorifying Me. Kṛṣṇa says, "My devotees, their thoughts dwell in Me, and they derive great pleasure in discussing My transcendental topics." The materialist, on the other hand, is busy glorifying those who are imitating the activities of the animals. In the Bhāgavatam it is said, svāvidvāraho stvākare samsuta puruṣāpaśu nāyat-kanna-pato-bheto jātu-nāma-kadākra-jaha. That is, Those who are like dogs, hogs, camels, and asses are busy glorifying others who are also like dogs, hogs, camels, and asses. The materialists are not interested in glorifying Kṛṣṇa. They don't find the pastimes of Kṛṣṇa to be attractive. They consider the pastimes of Kṛṣṇa to be an imagination. Why do they consider it an imagination? Because they are trying to measure God with their own material senses. Just because they are not capable of performing a superhuman activity, When God performs a superhuman activity, it becomes an imagination. Therefore, the devotee, recognizing that separation from the Lord is painful, is desirous to always associate with the Lord. Therefore, from morning to night, a devotee's life should be so arranged that he is never separated from the Lord. One can never be happy in a foreign territory. Just like when you go out traveling, Then when you return home in the night, you feel so happy. Similarly, when one is not engaged in the spiritual activity, there is no room for happiness. There's a very nice story in the Srimad Bhagavatam, the story of King Gajendra and the elephant and the crocodile. So Gajendra was the king of elephants, and Gajendra was along— actually, Gajendra in his previous life was a king, but On one occasion when he was, he was absorbed in meditation, a great sage had come, and because he did not receive the great sage nicely, he was then cursed to become a king. He was cursed to become an elephant. So Gajendra, because he was in the body of an elephant— a person acts according to the body he receives. This is the law of nature. Whatever body you, you get, that is the type of mentality you will develop. Just like on one occasion Indra was cursed because Indra had been disrespectful to his spiritual master. He was cursed to take on the body of a hog. And when Indra took on the body of a hog, he got so attached to his wife and the other piglets that even when Brahmaji requested him to return to do his duties as the administrator of rain, he refused. And so the point is that based on the mental body one obtains, one acts accordingly. So, um, Gajendra, because he was in the body of an elephant— elephant is big in size but dumb in intelligence— so Gajendra had entered the water along with his many wives and children. In the water there was also a crocodile. The crocodile also in his previous life had been a devotee, but he had been cursed. Of course, the curse given by sages is actually always a benediction. And even if a devotee is cursed, ultimately it's for the devotee's benefit. Just like Parikshit Maharaj was cursed by the Brahmin boy Shrangi, but it worked out for Parikshit's benefit because he left his body in a very heroic way. So when Gajendra was in the water enjoying with his wives, the crocodile caught hold of his legs. And when the crocodile caught hold of his legs Gajendra, crocodile, actually, as you know, is a very small animal, and the elephant in size is so big. So the elephant tried his best to pull his legs out of the crocodile's mouth, but for 1,000 years, Gajendra was completely unsuccessful. Now, Prabhupada explains in the purport of this section that why was Gajendra unsuccessful? Because Gajendra was fighting the battle on a foreign soil. Gajendra was an elephant, that is an animal meant to live on land, and the crocodile on the other hand was an animal meant to live in water. And the crocodile was fighting a battle on its natural soil, whereas for Gajendra this was foreign soil. And even though Gajendra was so powerful compared to the small crocodile, it was defeated by the crocodile. And then because Gajendra was in his previous life a devotee, he prayed to the Supreme Lord, and the Supreme Lord came and saved him by killing the crocodile. So the message for the devotees is as follows: regardless of what type of material arrangement you make, you can never be happy in a foreign soil. You can only be happy if you engage in spiritual activities. You may make any type of material arrangement, but that material arrangement is not going to give you strength. Even if you become a very powerful individual, power cannot make one happy or give one protection. Therefore, the devotee is always anxious to engage in his natural constitutional position. Just like the hand has value as long as it is part of the body, just like the leaves have value as long as they're part of the tree, just like the sparks have effulgence as long as they're with the— in the fire. Similarly, the living entity will only be happy if he's engaged in service to the Lord. So this is a strong point that is being emphasized by the early deity, that the living entity cannot be happy without the Lord. So this is the most important point for a devotee. Just like if you have a house and you leave your house open even for a minute, there's a chance that the thief may come and steal something. Similarly, if one is not engaged in service to the Lord, these senses will tend to be— the senses will go in the wrong direction, and then spiritual advancement will become difficult. Therefore, in the Bhagavad-gītā, what does Kṛṣṇa say? Man mana bhāva mad bhakto mad yājīmān namaskarū. He says again and again, control them. Use your mind to meditate upon Me. Bow down to Me. Offer your homage unto Me. Because the mind is the key factor in our ability to make spiritual advancement. So the mind should be absorbed in thinking about the pastimes, the form, the desires, the instructions of the Lord. Just like Arjuna— Arjuna was lamenting when the Lord had departed from the planet, but then when Arjuna started meditating on the instructions of Krishna, the Gita, he became very enlivened. So similarly, very often Sometimes we may feel disheartened or less enthusiastic. Sometimes you say devotees say sometimes they're enthusiastic, sometimes they're not enthusiastic. So when you're not enthusiastic, just start to meditate on the instructions that you have received from your spiritual master, from Prabhupada, from Krishna. Then once again you'll become enthusiastic. And if we develop this practice of meditation then the turbulent mind will be brought under control. In the Bhagavad-gītā, Arjuna had declared to the Lord that it appears to be more difficult to control the mind than to control the terminal— than to control the wind. Kṛṣṇa says, however, by constant practice the mind can be brought under control. So what does practice mean? Practice means forcing the mind again and again whenever it deviates from spiritual subject matters to bring it back to spiritual subject matters. So the devotee thinks of the Lord favorably. You can think of the Lord even unfavorably and there's benefit. However, the devotee thinks of the Lord favorably. Just like a lamp in a windless place does not waver, our mind should be so trained that we don't get off that real track. Just like it is said, Krishna Surya sama maya hayande kara yaha, Krishna tahini maya dikara. Where there is Kṛṣṇa, there is no room for māyā, just like when there's sunshine, there's no room for darkness. So hearing about the Lord's pastimes, meditating on the Lord's pastimes, meditating on the Lord's instructions are all 100% transcendental, because there's no difference between the Lord and His pastimes. The Lord is omnipotent, omniscient. To become associated with the Supreme Light, is to become associated with the Supreme Light is the medium to destroy ignorance and passion. When the devotee realizes that there's nothing without the presence of the Supreme Lord, then that is real knowledge. The nescience, ignorance can be destroyed by practicing the art of using the subtle mind to be engaged in transcendental activities of the Lord. And As they say, practice makes a man perfect. If you go on practicing, Prabhupada told us in many lectures, then you will become perfect. And then we also have the example of Prahlāda Mahājā. Prahlāda Mahājā's meditation was slightly different than the meditation of the other, than Arjuna, because Prahlāda was meditating on the desires of the Lord. Prahlāda was meditating on the desire of the Lord to reclaim the conditioned souls back to Godhead. In fact, Prahlāda was constantly lamenting. But what was his lamentation? That the materialists are attempting to convert misery into happiness. As we practice the art of devotional service through controlling the mind and constant engagement in service to the Lord, all transcendental qualities like humility, tolerance, and ideal Vaiṣṇava behavior will also develop. Sānātana Gosvāmī, when he saw Haridas Thakur, he made a very important statement which is relevant for every devotee of the Kṛṣṇa conscious movement. He said, "There are some devotees who preach but who do not show ideal behavior, and there are some who show good behavior but do not preach, but you are simultaneously doing both." Once an American professor wrote a letter to Prabhupāda in which he inquired how would he describe his devotee, his disciples. So Prabhupada wrote back and said, my disciples are perfect gentlemen and gentlewomen. So we have to preach the Krishna conscious philosophy without any compromise, but we have to preach the philosophy in a perfect gentleman and gentlewoman fashion. We need the quality of tolerance in practicing Krishna consciousness and presenting Krishna consciousness. For example, on one occasion Sarvapramana Bhattacharya asked Lord Caitanya to listen to his commentary on the Vedānta. And for 7 days Caitanya Mahāprabhu was just hearing the philosophy without presenting, without speaking a word. Actually, Sarvapramana Bhattacharya was bewildered. Why is Caitanya Mahāprabhu not speaking something? Then Caitanya Mahāprabhu finally spoke. And when he spoke, he tore apart all the wrong statements that the Sarvabhauma Bhattacharya had made. Then there was another occasion when in Bengal there was a— there was a Chan Kazi, there was a ruler who was a Muhammadan, and he had stopped Lord Caitanya's Sankirtana army. He had stopped the Sankirtana movement by making the madangas. And Lord Caitanya then had a very long discussion with him. But his discussion was carried on in a very gentlemanly way. And then he defeated the Chanakazi, and Chanakazi gave orders that even in future, nobody should disturb Lord Caitanya's sankirtan movement. Lord Caitanya was also a very prominent Sanskrit scholar. He had virtually defeated all the Sanskrit scholars that were existing in India at that time. There was one Sanskrit scholar called Kashmiri Pandit who came to challenge him. Lord Caitanya also defeated him. So when he defeated him, all his disciples started making— all the followers started making fun of the Kashmiri Pandit. He told them, no, not to make fun, be respectful. So I just gave you these few examples just to illustrate one point, that the devotee is very exemplary in his preaching and he's very gentlemanly in his behavior, even though he never compromises on the truth. Obviously, if you compromise in the truth, you can become everybody's friend. You can become a hero with your parents, a hero with your friends, a hero with the society if you compromise on the truth. But the point is not to compromise with this truth and still be ideal gentleman in behavior. That is the approach of the devotee. So the devotee cultivates these different transcendental qualities, and as he advances in absorption meditation on the Lord, he obtains the strength to develop these transcendental qualities. Now we see in this, in this verse that the Mother Earth is also stating how fortunate it is that it has received the dust of the lotus feet of the Lord. So it is explained in the Bhāgavatam that one who has not received the dust of the lotus feet of the Lord or His devotee is very unfortunate. So what does it mean receiving the dust of the lotus feet of the Lord? Practically, what does it mean? Does it mean that somebody goes to Vṛndāvana, just bring back the dust of Vṛndāvana, you touch it on your forehead, and now you think your ticket to Kṛṣṇa is assured? Does it mean you touch the lotus feet of a saintly personality and your ticket to Godhead is assured? Just like if you go to India and you're wearing saffron clothes or you're sannyāsi, everybody tries to come to touch your feet. And they touch your feet and said, Swāmiji, Give me your mercy. So we tell them, if you want mercy, you have to pay the price. In other words, follow a certain spiritual standard. So when it says receiving the dust of the lotus feet of the Lord or His pure devotee, what it really means is accepting the instructions of the Lord or His pure devotee. And if we receive the instructions of the Lord or His pure devotees, then one can make spiritual advancement and realize the goal of life. Anyone doesn't accept instructions, then your life is wasted. So by being in the association of devotees, by taking advantage of devotee association, one is fortunate to be always reminded of the instructions of the Lord and His devotees. In fact, great sages have said it is better to live behind a cage of bars or live in a cage with a lion rather than live— rather than to live with non-devotees. In other words, one should mold his life in such a way that one can always avail of devotee association. So to summarize the verse, the Earth deity in a cow, uh, is also lamenting that Kali Yuga's influence is becoming so prominent. And the Earth is lamenting and stating that who can tolerate separation from the Lord. So that is how you recognize a devotee. He's always engaged in Kṛṣṇa's service and he's always reminding you of Kṛṣṇa. And if that is our principle, to always glorify Kṛṣṇa and remember Kṛṣṇa, then one will never suffer materially. So our life from morning to night should be so molded that we are always engaged in service to Kṛṣṇa so we can never be separated from the Lord. Since the Lord is omnipotent, omniscient, there's no difference between Him and His holy name. There is no difference between him discussing his pastimes and the actual pastimes. It is said that the Lord incarnates in two forms in Kali Yuga. One is the deity form known as archa-vigraha, and the other, the Holy Name. And the Holy Name is even more merciful than the personal form. In a sense, you can associate with the Holy Name anywhere you are. So we should always associate with the Lord, and that's the medium to spiritual happiness. And as Krishna says, Brahma-bhūta-prasannātmānā sotirī na kankṣadi. One who is transcendently situated, he does not lament or hanker for material things. His hankering and lamenting is only for spiritual things. His lamenting is that so much time has been spent away from Krishna. So his hankering is how I can become Krishna conscious and how I can make others Krishna conscious. So that is the hankering that we should all develop. Hare Krishna. Hare Krishna. Hare Krishna. I'll take on questions for a few minutes. Yeah. Well, there are two types of sadness. One is material sadness, the other is spiritual sadness. Material sadness is you're lamenting you're not having sense enjoyment. Just like sometimes when it comes to spiritual life, you're lamenting, oh, I can't have this sense enjoyment, I can't have this. Look at the karmis, they're having this sense enjoyment. Ragunath Das Goswami has made a very strong statement in Caitanya-caritamrta on this point. It's very strong. Don't be embarrassed. He says, just like after you pass stool, you don't meditate on it but flush it away, similarly after you come to spiritual life, you should not lament or feel sad for the material activities that you have stopped. This is in the Caitanya-caritāmṛta. Now spiritual happiness is, spiritual happiness is the mood of Prasad RAVALAJ. He said no spiritual sadness. Like Pralhad Maharaj was always lamenting how people are not becoming Krishna conscious. Okay, yes. There no questions? Everyone must have been sleeping. Open the windows, you'll wake people up. Yes. What about us? You mean, what about human beings? You mean, what about human beings? Or do you mean, what about Russian beings, American beings, British beings? Huh? What about, what about the devotee? How to call it? Can influence consciousness? Well, when you become a devotee, you realize that you have to train your mind and senses in a particular way. When you become a devotee, you realize that all the training that you have received so far was wrong, and therefore You try to undo, you try to forget what you have learned in the past and you start new learning. Nature of the soul is to be pure. But just like when the rainwater is falling from the clouds, it is pure. But rainwater, when it touches the earth, it becomes muddy. So similarly, the living entity, when he comes in contact with this material body, he gets polluted. And the whole process of devotional service is to cleanse the pollution. Was that your question? I don't know. Itavāśivā prasāda. It is said that the soul has different classes with different needs and different forms with their relationship to the Lord. For them, the nature of the soul is the same. The relationship one develops with the Lord is based on how one acts with his body. Otherwise there would be no need for our making an effort on the path of devotional service if everything was automatic. You preach to them like Lord Caitanya preached to the Mayavadis, how Lord Caitanya preached to Cankasi, how Prabhupada preached to the Westerners when he first came there. You preach to them in the manner that you hear the preaching in the classes of senior devotees. One learns by listening. Just like Prabhupāda used to say that when he would go to listen to his spiritual master's lectures, many times there were many sannyasis listening to lectures, many of them would leave, but he would never leave. He would just sit down and listen even if he would not understand anything. And so Bhaktisiddhānta Ji remarked, because this boy hears so nicely, one day he'll become a very— he'll preach very nicely. So Prabhupāda used to tell us that hearing is the key to your ability to preach. If you, if you hear nicely, you will preach nicely. If you fall asleep at the time of hearing, then you'll fall asleep at the time of preaching. Yes, theater. So the beauty of Krishna consciousness is You can use whatever ability you have in service to Kṛṣṇa, provided it is approved by senior authorities. So if you have some, some ability to do theater, sure, do it for Kṛṣṇa. Just like now your devotees are doing theater on Sundays. Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī ṭhākura was very fond of using theater to present Kṛṣṇa consciousness, and Prabhupāda also greatly encouraged it. But it has to be done carefully so that theater doesn't get misused for māyā. It is not misuse, okay? I'll only take 2-3 more questions. Being a gentleman does not mean that if somebody comes to steal your kaneki or dengi, you say, okay, karasho, do it. You know, being a gentleman means you also deal with the thief properly. So you have to be alert when you're on sankirtan. Just like this happens in India when our devotees go and put on sankirtan tables Sometimes there are huge crowds around the table and people just try to steal the books. Sometimes they do something which is even smarter than this. They'll come up to the devotee and say, hey, I gave you a ₹100 note, where is the change? They have not given the note, but they'll say, I gave you the note, where's the change? So because the devotee is handling so many devotees, so many people, he gets confused sometimes. Okay. Yes, Luna. You should tell them— they, the Christians, say that in 2,000 years the world will end. Is that what they say? So you tell them it doesn't matter whether the earth ends in 2,000 years or after 427,000 years. You should tell them to worry about today and tomorrow, what your next body is going to be tomorrow. What's the use of debating when the earth is going to end? So, Śrīntī Vaiṣṇava, the flickering of the mind has been stated again and again. This is— you do your chanting attentively in the morning, hear the Bhāgavatam attentively, and all day it will be very easy to remember Kṛṣṇa. But if we don't chant attentively, don't hear attentively, then to remember Kṛṣṇa will be trudna. Okay, okay. Choose a spiritual master who's living on the planet, because unless you choose a spiritual master who's living on the planet, how will you be personally guided? Parampara means a living process. So you have to surrender to a living personality. Only one more question. Yes, yes. Well, if you leave your spiritual path, you should not put the blame on past karma. You shouldn't say, oh, I'm not on the spiritual path because my past karma is very bad. The fact that you have come to Krishna consciousness by hook or crook means you have some pious activity in your previous life, otherwise you would not have come to Krishna consciousness. So now that you have come to Krishna consciousness, take advantage of it rather than shifting the blame on past karma. Even if your past karma is very bad, Krishna rectifies that if you are in the mood of surrendering to Him. Okay, Pāślini Vāpravaṣa. After Kali-yuga there'll be again Satya-yuga. In Kali Yuga, the Lord incarnates in His holy name. Kali-kale mama rupa Krishna avatara. Just associate with the holy name. I said that in the lecture. In Kali Yuga, the Lord incarnates in two ways. First is archa-vigraha, murti form. Second, holy name. So Prabhu, I'll stop at this point because I want all of you to go on with your normal services. I think today evening I have a lecture at 6:00 at the Can you announce it to the devotees, some of the people who want to come? You have? You can do it now. Please come here. Today evening actually the Bhakti Rana Institute has arranged a lecture. What is the topic? I think the topic today is problems of modern society in the light of Vedic culture. But the point is we don't want too many devotees there because this is a lecture to the scientists. Anyway, some— and after the lecture there, then I'll come here for the Gītā class. Well, I'll start by quarter to 8, I think, today, because by the time we finish the lecture— Okay. Hare Krishna. Hale Lama, Hale Lama. Lama Lama, Hale Hale.